Written by Alvina Foo
By the time you read this, the statistic is probably already outdated. Nevertheless, it gives you a good idea of how fast these illnesses are progressing. We are faced with Childhood Epidemics.
By the time you read this, the statistic is probably already outdated. Nevertheless, it gives you a good idea of how fast these illnesses are progressing. We are faced with Childhood Epidemics.
1 in 100 children diagnosed with Autism1 in 100 children with ADHD
1 out of every 13 children diagnosed with asthma
1 out of every 20 children with food allergies
1 out of every 6 children suffers from eczema
As compared to some of the other developmental disorders, there is a rapid increase in Autism. Is Autism the tip of the iceberg in childhood illnesses?
There are many types of autisms, there is not just the one type. Therefore, sometimes Autism is also called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Autism is a whole body, a biochemical and biological disorder. It is not a psychological disorder.
The spectrum consists of Autistic disorder; Childhood Disintegrative Disorder; Persuasive Developmental Disorder - Not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS); Asperger's disorder and Rett's disorder.
How would an autistic child present itself?
They are generally not very sociable. They have no interest in friends; avoid eye contact and prefer their own company.
He or she may have problem communicating and may repeat words and phrases.
An autistic child may display unusual behaviour such as, hand flapping; picky eating (sometimes only eating specific coloured food) and throw frequent tantrums.
They may have intense unusual interest in a specific topic which requires mechanical workings or be fascinated by facts and figures.
"She always hated noise, people and busy places. She would scream, have a tantrum or cry because she was so overwhelmed."
Is there a single cause for Autism? Most people would like that answer to be a "Yes", then we can move on and find a cure for it. Unfortunately, it is a lot more complicated than that. I'm afraid we are looking at a multifactorial problem; genes interplaying with the environment. It cannot be a genetic epidemic, as this just doesn't occur in such a such period of time. Our environment, however has made drastic changes.
The persistent organic pollutants (POPs), such as DDT and PCB persist for years in the environment. They are stored in fatty tissue and biomagnify up to 10 million times…yes, 10 million times through the food chain. Some sea creatures are deemed as so toxic that their carcasses must be treated as toxic waste.
"Tests Find More Than 200 Chemicals in Newborn Umbilical Cord Blood"made the headline in Dec 2009 in the American Scientific journal. In other findings, of the 287 toxins they found in newborn babies, 180 are known carcinogens, 217 are toxic to the nervous system and brain.
Kids are more vulnerable to environmental toxicants than adults because:
There are more hand to mouth behaviour; more exposure to the ground; immature immune and detoxification system and higher absorption and metabolic rate.
It is also less comforting to know that our Australian preschoolers have higher levels of pesticide residues than our counterparts in America and Germany!
The question is no longer "Are we toxic?" It is rather "How toxic are we?"
So...what can we do about it?
There're some simple measures that we can do to reduce exposure:
- Remove shoes at home
- Wash our hands before eating
- Keep indoor plants
- Minimise food packaging
- Eat organic food if it is possible
In regards to the last point,there is data suggesting that toddlers eating mostly organic food have less than 1/6 the pesticide residues in their urine.
With the permission of Dr Debbie Fewtrell (NZ), who by the way is a great teacher and a passionate doctor. I was able to share the case history with the audience and show by using a biomedical approach, that we may be able to help many of these children.
See link for Sienna's story:
http://www.nzwomansweekly.co.nz/your-stories/weekly-people/our-autistic-daughters-new-life/
I am a member of a non-profit organisation called MINDD Foundation. They provide a lot of wonderful resources for carers and healthcare practitioners. If you think that they're an organisation worth supporting, please either become a member or make a donation and help them make a difference!
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